Gaston College drops regular season finale

A strong first half and late rally weren't enough for Gaston College's basketball team to close the 2024-25 regular season with a victory on Wednesday night as visiting Caldwell Tech took a dramatic 81-78 win at Gastonia's Ashbrook High School.

The Rhinos built an 11-point lead in the first half and rallied back from a 76-68 deficit with 5:41 to play to forge a 78-all tie.

But the visiting Cobras' 11th 3-pointer of the night with 7.7 seconds left proved decisive.

"We gave up too many corner 3s off dribble penetration," Gaston College coach Benny Moss said. "We've got to guard and stop the ball. We did a poor job of that."

The Rhinos end the regular season with a 20-9 overall record and 6-8 mark in Region 10 Division I.

The league's regular season concludes on Saturday and pairings for next week's conference tournament at Hickory's Catawba Valley Community College that sends its winner to the National Junior College Athletic Association championship tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas, will be announced this weekend.

"We'll take a day off and then work on us and getting us better," Moss said. "Next week we'll start working on opponents we might have and get ready for the tournament."

Tyheim Love (15 points, 3 assists), Judah Ravenell (14 points, 8 rebounds), E.J. Joyner (13 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists), Jordan Brown (12 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists), Spencer Breeden (7 points, 4 rebounds) and Ryan Evans (6 points) led Gaston College's balanced attack on Wednesday night.